This unit integrates science, social studies and literacy. All grades first through fifth will be studying and learning about trees with the greater goal of increased awareness of how trees fit into the larger concept of environmentalism.

Each individual class has science twice a week for 45 minutes each class. This accumulates to a mini unit of 6 classes total for each grade level. Each grade level will be studying trees with a differentiated focus that meets the appropriate state standards for their particular grade level and developmental capabilities.

School-wide "One Book" related to the Trees and Environmentalism Unit

The "One Book" for PAS Science Grades 1-5 is Mama Miti written by Donna Jo Napoli and illustrated by Kadir Nelson. Each class will start the Tree and Environmentalism Unit with a read aloud of this book.

The idea behind having a "One Book" is that everyone reads the same book and can share their reactions to and experiences with the story. It will be used at PAS as an inspiration and motivation for our units on trees and we can continue to come back to this story and make connections to it as we work our way through the planned lessons and activities.

The book tells the inspiring story of Wangari Maathai who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her work with the Greenbelt Movement in Kenya. She helped the local people of Kenya plant over 30 million trees after major deforestation had destroyed many of Kenya's natural resources.

School-wide Home Connection related to Trees and Environmentalism Unit

During this unit of study every student will be adopting a local tree to observe and learn from outside of school. This tree should ideally be a tree that they see every day. It could be in their yard, on the street in front of their house, in the park nearby, or just one they see everyday on their way to/from school.

Every week students are required to check in with their tree at least once. They can take pictures of it but also students should take careful notes about the tree, what they observe in/on the tree, what may be happening to or around the tree at the time of observation. What we learn about in science class should be applied to the observations of their tree and may be reflected in their journal notes for that week. To submit their notes they will comment on a special website set up to share the school's urban tree adoption projects. Each class has their own page on the site for submitting comments/observations. When commenting, each student will have a username that is their room number and an assigned letter. For example: 208A, this is to prevent us from having to use student names on the site. Students without internet or computer access will be allowed and encouraged to use the computers in science class or the school computer lab to enter their data with the support of staff before, during or after school.

The motivation for this site is to encourage students to extend what they have been learning to experiences outside of the classroom and to allow for family involvement in what students are studying in school. Also by sharing their individual journals on a website like this, we will be able to share the observations with the entire school community, not just their own class. It is hopefully a tool for building and strengthening a sense of school-wide community using science content. Check out their home connection project site here: www.pasurbanforestry.weebly.com

Use the buttons below to see the various stages of the planning process for this unit: